Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Lent

I'm posting this mostly as accountability, but some may be interested. I will be observing Lent in the following ways:

Eating vegetarian - Meghan and I have been greatly challenged in our eating habits of late. This video is a main part of it, but I've also been studying Genesis closely about the distinction between carnivore and herbivore from the perspective of humanity. I wrote this to someone recently about it. Somewhat sums up my initial thoughts:

As for the intentions of what humans were to eat "from the beginning," the argument for some is that in the creation stories of Genesis 1-3, God only mentions to Adam eating of plants. It says that God made the plants for food for humanity and the animals to eat. In the first account of creation, it's mentioned at 1:29. In the second account of creation, it's at 2:9 and again at 2:16. Then in Genesis 3, after the disobedience, God only mentions Adam eating "from the plants" (v. 18).

While there might be made an implication that Cain eats of his sheep in chapter 4, it's really not until after the flood at the beginning of chapter 9 that God gives provision of the eating of the animals.

Now...

...I would never really run with this dogmatically whatsoever, but it does make us think about how much we consume. If the establishment of the Kingdom of God (Kingdom of Heaven) is indeed somewhat of a return to Eden, vegetarianism could

play a role in the already-but-not-yet-revealing of the Kingdom of God.

Again, I wouldn't run with this dogmatically, but it's something to think about.

So I'm trying the traditional practice of Lent to not eat meat. I don't hold it as prescriptive for everyone else (yet!), but I am challenged by how we overconsume meat to the overall detriment of the earth. I'm the first to say that I could pound a plate of buffalo wings or a 12 ounce steak. But with the rate that everyone's going, I'm concerned about health: ours and the earth's. This was one of my commitments from Saturday's Boston Faith & Justice event that I already blogged about.

We'll see how it goes...because I love meat.

Showering every other day for less than five minutes - This also comes out of the Boston Faith & Justice event. I already bought a shower timer a while ago. Of all the travesties in the world, the fact that so many are incredibly sick and even die from the lack of access to clean water sickens me. We're talking about water here (I feel like Allen Iverson). WATER!!! My cutting back on showering for a while will not give them clean water, but it will in very small part remind me of their plight. In addition, it will save water, money, and energy right here where I live.

So I'll be showering on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the days I play basketball. (And Sunday, of course.)

This is what I call my "reminder that I'm human" for Lent. You may remember that I didn't shave during Lent last year. Part of what's happening for me in this time of preparation for Easter is a reminder that I am human and I need God.

Less sports radio, more reading - I am going to look into going from standard to basic cable to save time and money. In Kansas City we just used an antenna, but here in Hingham, it's useless. If we want any TV at all, we have to have cable in some fashion. But we could save a bit every month by going to basic. We'll lose a lot of what I watch (NESN, ESPN, CNN, Discovery: basically the sports and news stations) and what Meghan watches (TLC, etc.).

But for Lent, I will not listen to sports radio. I did this last year as well (though admittedly, much of the impetus was that the Patriots had just lost the SB, and I didn't want to listen to it).

In place, I'll be reading more. I'm reading five books throughout Lent: continuing Evangelism After Christendom andFinding Our Way Again, and beginning Beyond Homelessness, Between Cross & Resurrection: A Theology of Holy Saturday, and The Story of God. I've made a reading schedule which is somewhat aggressive on some days and not so much on others.

There will be some other things going on during Lent coming out of our church community.

But these are the big things for myself. Perhaps I'll post those after I hand them out to North Street.